Do you have patches of dry skin, oily skin, irritated skin, or sensitive skin? Dairy butter and body butters contain natural ingredients and anti-inflammatory properties that are scientifically proven to benefit your skin’s texture and help you appear younger.
The video lower within this article demonstrates how to make a simple but highly effective butter mask to enhance your skin’s appearance by:
- plumping with collagen
- moisturizing dry patches
- putting glow back into dull areas
- evening out spotty patches
- soothing various skin irritations
- and it even helps to heal acne-prone skin.
Additionally, five other science-based skin tips will help your skin to appear healthier and more youthful.
Benefits of Butter for Skin
The type of natural butters that can benefit all skin types include:
- dairy butter
- cocoa butter
- mango butter
- unrefined shea butter
- butter blends that contain olive oil and coconut oil.
Among the antioxidant properties within many butters that fight free radicals and provide the best results are:
- butyrate (dairy butter)
- vitamin E
- vitamin A
The antioxidants within butter help neutralize and scavenge free radicals and their harmful effects.
Free radicals are continuously produced in the human body and negatively impact the skin. These uncontrolled free radicals cause oxidative stress, breaking down DNA and accelerating aging.
Fortunately, butyrate is a regulator of your skin’s immune system.
Topically applied butyrate – such as dairy butter at room temperature – helps to reduce contact hypersensitivity, like eczema, by increasing regulatory T-cells and reducing inflammatory T-cells.
Butyrate also induces collagen synthesis – and collagen is an extremely important structural component of skin.
Dane Findley writes this article with Jim Harris ~ Jim is a Nutritional Consultant and graduate from the American Naturopathic Medical Institute who recognizes that our bodies have the innate capacity for self-healing — especially when the correct information and energy are supplied in combination with the correct food, supplements, and herbs.
Recipe for Cucumber Cinnamon Butter Facial Mask
Butyrate is found in simple dairy butter.
It isn’t necessary to spend money on expensive skincare products.
Your kitchen already contains helpful skin moisturizers for a fraction of the cost of fancy department store skin care masks.
Mixing a bit of cucumber puree and cinnamon into a tablespoon of room temperature dairy butter makes a mask loaded with antioxidants and other anti-inflammatory properties:
- peel a small chunk of cucumber and add it to your kitchen blender with a few drops of water and a dash of cinnamon.
- blend the cucumber mixture into a liquid gel, then add a teaspoon of it to a heaping tablespoon of room-temperature unsalted butter and stir vigorously in a small bowl or ramekin with a basting brush.
- Use the basting brush to apply a mask layer over your face and neck. Leave on for 15 minutes. Remove the mask with a cloth and warm water, then shower. After the shower, you can use a mild toner on a damp cotton round to remove any excess product that might have been left behind post-shower.
In short, literature review has established that butter has antioxidant capacity and carries higher biological value proteins, calcium, essential fatty acids, amino acids, fat, water-soluble vitamins, and several bioactive compounds highly beneficial for positive physiological functions.
These essential fatty acids within body butters often include:
- linoleic acid
- stearic acid
- cinnamic acid
Turning Back the Clock on Your Facial Skin
How does your skin appear at this moment?
What do other people see when they look at you?
While I honor my silver hair and wrinkles – hey, I figure I earned them, and I don’t mind looking mature – I also must admit that it’s important to me that my outer appearance aligns with how I feel on the inside.
If I’m feeling energized and strong on a particular day, I want to see energized and strong when I look in the mirror.
Of course, genetics play a role in how the skin appears, which is beyond my control.
Aside from genetics, five lifestyle habits help form the foundation of robust health and are why some people present as ten years younger than their biological age.
Those lifestyle habits are within my control – and they’re within your control, too.
Ample Hydration
There are helpful genes and unhelpful genes.
Though we can’t control the genetics our parents gave us, our lifestyle habits can help determine what genes turn on or off within our bodies – and that is up to each of us individually. This is very good news!
For example, how much water you drink is entirely up to you.
Mostly everyone thinks they drink more water than they actually do.
The amount of water you drink can determine the texture and elasticity of your skin tissue.
Conduct your own personal experiment. Keep track of your average water intake, then resolve to drink one more glass per day than you have been.
After a week, notice whether or not it has had a positive impact.
If you’re eating low-carb, you might want to add some electrolytes to that water.
Better Sleep to Appear Youthful
Using sensitive “face mapping” techniques, researchers have established specific improvements in facial appearance due to better sleep.
- What one nightly ritual could you adopt that would help you to sleep better from now on?
What I have found particularly helpful for me is to abstain from the consumption of dark chocolate and caffeine after 2 pm, without exception.
Additionally, I sleep each night wearing earplugs, an eye mask, and soundproof headphones (for when I sleep on my back, which I do twice each night). This has helped me appear at my best the following morning.
Eating an Ancestral Diet to Reverse Mature Skin
According to medical doctor Terry Wahls, as we evolved from single-cell organisms over millions of years, the good bacteria that lived in our gut evolved with us. This relationship between humans and good bacteria has been mutually beneficial – our lives depend on it.
However, it has only been within a tiny blip of recent human history that we began trying to feed these bacteria industrialized foods. And that’s not working so well.
A primal-inspired diet that honors the best aspects of our ancestors – from a time before agriculture and industry – can do wonders for our cellular health, including the health of our skin cells.
Smarter Exercise
Scientists who biopsy skin samples from large groups of volunteers have established that regular physical activity can reverse aging – even in people who start exercising later in life.
Conduct your own personal experiment. Keep track of your average activity level, then resolve to do one more workout per week than you have been. After three months, notice whether or not it has positively impacted the appearance of your face.
Grooming Regimen
If I feel tired, then I don’t mind looking tired. I figure congruency is healthy.
However, if I feel fit and energized yet look in the mirror and see fatigue, that tells me it’s time to turn up the dial on my grooming regimen.
The good news is that a good grooming regimen can make all the difference.
Careful exfoliating, masking, and – including for men – learning how to shave properly can take years off your face.
Yes, sunscreen is a good idea, but a little naturally occurring vitamin D is also good.
I do use sunscreen all over – including my scalp and inside my ears – but I like to keep the factor at 15-block in the winter and 30-block in the summer, and I like the ingredients to be as natural as possible (I’ve developed a sensitivity to some of the harsher synthetic brands):
- For “hot spots” – scalp, face, neck, inside ears, top of shoulders, upper back, and hands – I use a 50-block.
- For the tip of my nose, I add a second, extra layer of 50-block. Skin cancer tends to appear first on people’s noses, hence the extra precaution.
Washing your face (or using an astringent or toner) before sleep each night also makes a positive difference in skin texture:
- If your face is oily, use a bit of astringent on a damp cotton pad and wipe your face with it gently, paying extra attention to the nose and ears.
- If you tend toward dry skin, use a toner instead of an astringent.
- Finish off with a bit of moisturizer on your “weakest” areas – which for most people is their neck (front and back).
Self-Care Techniques for After Age 50 to Help Skin Look Better
Healthy skin is an important part of overall wellness for people over 50.
Simple methods can help skin look much better and be healthier.
Most people don’t think of their skin as an organ, but it significantly eliminates toxins.
The big idea with skin is to help it (not hinder it) with its extremely important objective of the easy elimination of waste from your body.
If you improve the ability of your pores to eliminate, your skin will look much better, and your entire system will be healthier.
The liver is responsible for 2/3 of the body’s purification and elimination activity. The remaining 1/3 is shared by:
- the skin
- lungs
- kidneys
- lymphatics
- and intestines
The pores must remain open for the skin to function effectively as an organ. Having clean, open pores helps your skin look better.
We must shed dry skin daily and not clog up the pores with creams with synthetic ingredients or potions laden with petrochemicals.
The pharmaceutical industry makes transdermal patches for estrogen and smoking-cessation products because the skin transports them into the body.
With this in mind, my wife and I have a rule that we will not put anything on our skin that we wouldn’t eat because whatever we put on our skin is being absorbed internally. For example, sodium lauryl sulfate is an emulsifier in many skin creams that could have possible health risks as it is absorbed into the body.
Fortunately, there are effective ways to take great care of your skin that doesn’t involve applying chemicals to it. Here are your seven action steps for better skin.
Eat Ample Amounts of Fresh Produce for Your Skin
Eat ten servings of fruit and vegetables (well, mostly vegetables) each day – this provides fiber for healthy bowel elimination and antioxidants to scavenge for skin-damaging free radicals.
Experiment until you find a way of eating that your own body experiences as anti-inflammatory:
- An anti-inflammatory diet means waking up in the morning with good color and taut skin.
- On the other hand, an inflammatory diet means waking up with the bloats, puffies, blotches, and dark circles.
When your face is fresh and healthy, you look energized at work.
On the other hand, when you look like you’re having a mild allergic reaction to something you ate, you also look drained, tired, and older than your years.
Remember, inflammation is bodily tissue reacting to irritation, usually because of the day’s diet.
Be Serious about Hydration
Drink ½ your body weight in ounces of water daily.
A 140-pound person should drink 70 ounces of toxin-free water each day.
Move Daily
We need to exercise and perspire to flush toxins from our lymph system.
…my wife and I have a rule that we will not put anything on our skin that we wouldn’t eat”
Dry Brush the Skin on Your Body
Dry skin brushing involves using a dry brush daily before showering to stimulate the lymph system and remove excess skin cells. You’ll typically see your skin look better after just one dry brushing.
Moisturize from the Inside
Oil your skin from the inside – add healthy dietary oils to the diet like coconut oil, avocado oil, and olive oil as well as a balance of essential fatty acids. Stay away from seed oils.
Note from Dane: I noticed an improvement in the quality of my skin when I increased my intake of healthy fats, from pasture-raised bison, raw grass-fed butter, and coconut oil. It was the first time I intentionally ate more fat in my adult life, and I was stunned to discover that it made more of a difference than anything else I had previously tried. I’m not saying it’s for everybody, but it has worked well for me, especially when combined with a lower intake of carbohydrates.
Supplement Smartly for Better Skin
Supplement with quality food-based multivitamins because our bodies need trace minerals for optimal nutrition and to rid the body of toxins.
Soak Your Skin
Epsom salts and baking soda baths can be a great way to open skin pores and allow metabolic acids to leave the body and rehydrate the skin.
Turning Your Own Grooming Regimen Up-a-Notch
We humans get ourselves into ruts.
For example, try to get a man to shave his face differently (most do it incorrectly). It’s very hard for a fellow to shave in a new way when he’s been doing it the same way his whole adult life.
And so it is with making other improvements to one’s grooming regimen. It takes discipline and tenacity:
- How important is improved skin and health to you?
- Important enough to modify your existing regimen?
I often say that one of the challenges of aging is that each year our daily grooming regimen takes longer than the year before (remember when you were 19 and could just roll out of bed in the morning without a care in the world or a concern for your skin? Hah!).
This is just part of the natural seasons of life. Our care and feeding must be more thoughtful the older we become.
Is Your Appearance Younger or Older than How You Feel on the Inside?
There are periodic campaigns to find out whether people who think they look old are also perceived as old by others. These large polls – via online social networking channels – help determine particular people’s perceived age.
For example, a person might be perceived as being 53 – nine years older than her true age. There are some possible solutions to turning back the clock on skin’s appearance:
- got crow’s feet? try Argireline — a topical cream that works like Botox
- under-eye bags? try parsley tea ice cubes
- sagging skin under the neck? try Retinoid Cream (but only once a week)
- dull skin-tone? try an exfoliating mask made from tomato, sea salt, and honey.
Many people report having excellent results from using essential oils. Essential oils not only nourish, moisturize and restore the skin, but they also reduce stress levels.
Most people don’t realize that stress can contribute to aging and skin damage as much as poor nutrition and lack of exercise do.
When was the last time you upgraded your grooming regimen?
As with the rest of your body, your face will respond most favorably when all five of the above methods are employed to help your skin appear vibrant and youthful.
These skin-improving strategies seem like a lot of things to do but remember that these principles also reduce the risk for diseases. Optimal internal health will manifest itself with a robust and healthy skin glow, helping you to look energized and taking years off your appearance.
Additional Sources about Benefits of Butter for Skin and Other Tips for Improving Appearance:
Positive impact of butyrate on skin – https://www.lucymailing.com/scfas-part-2-the-benefits-of-butyrate/
Scientific update: turning off cancer-related genes – http://www.news-medical.net/news/20131021/Certain-food-and-lifestyle-habits-can-turn-on-or-off-expression-of-cancer-related-genes.aspx
Study finds nearly half of Americans not drinking enough water – http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2013-06-05/health/ct-x-0605-drinking-water-20130605_1_dietary-guidelines-much-water-drinking-water
Research establishes that sleeping better translates to looking better – http://www.uofmhealth.org/news/archive/201309/sleep-better
Discovering connection between nutrition and skin aging – http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3583891/
Younger skin through exercise – http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/04/16/younger-skin-through-exercise/?_r=0
Benefits of lactic acid for skin – https://www.verywellhealth.com/lactic-acid-skin-care-4178819
Linoleic acid applied topically is helpful – https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5749693/
Olive oil and Coconut oil proven to restore cutaneous homeostasis – https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5796020/
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